Trapped in Minecraft

Chapter 11 - The Portal

They entered a dimly lit room with stone bricks for walls. There was only one way out, which was a doorway that led to other parts of the vast stronghold. Knowing that they should quickly find The End portal, they exited the room and explored the quiet hallways. As he followed Scarlett while carrying two bags of heavy supplies, he listened carefully for possible footsteps that could belong to his two other friends.

"You know, they might be near 'The End' portal already waiting for us," Scarlett said without turning around. Collin wasn't sure if she had said it to reassure him or if she had actually meant it.

"Maybe," he responded. His ears suddenly pricked up at the sound of bones clattering and immediately turned around to find two skeleton archers. "Duck!" He yelled as he dropped to the floor.

"Duck?" Scarlett turned around but it was too late. Two arrows came towards her at high speeds and before she knew what hit her, pain shot up her right leg. She cursed loudly and immediately grabbed her leg with her hands.

Collin stood up and looked at Scarlett, who was on the ground writhing in pain. An arrow had pierced through the armour and into the skin a few inches below her knee and blood oozed out quickly. He wanted to help her, but knew that he had to take out the undead archers first. He faced the two skeletons with his diamond sword drawn and deflected the next two arrows skilfully.

He took several steps forward and deflected another two arrows. Collin repeated this process until he was about two metres away from the first skeleton archer. He positioned his blade with its sharp end pointing forward and shoved it forward with great force. As he expected, the sharp end had stabbed the skeleton's rib cage, separating it from the rest of its body before turning into dust. "You're next," he said at the remaining mob.

* * *

Collin turned back to Scarlett after he was done fighting. She had managed to take out the arrow from her leg and had rested her back against the wall. "You okay?" he said as he extended his hand in order to help her up.

"I'm fine," she said firmly but allowed him to help her to her feet. While Collin had been busy with the two skeletal archers, Scarlett had drunk a healing potion, which had helped to heal her wound and stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, she could still feel the pain lingering. "We should keep moving."

"I agree, but we need to be more careful. I fear there might be other creatures hiding in this stronghold."

They walked side-by-side as they searched for 'the end' portal. None of them said anything for a long time, but Collin didn't mind the silence. Suddenly, they heard a soft sound come from one of the stone bricks that surrounded them. "What's that noise?" he asked as he brought out a diamond pickaxe and began to swing it at one of the stone bricks.

Scarlett's eyes widened. "No! Don't break the blo-," But it was too late. Collin had already mined one of the blocks and a tiny silverfish emerged. Before anyone could do anything, the silverfish sent a high-pitched scream echoing around the room, causing twenty other silverfish to come out of their hiding places.

"Oops," Collin said quietly as he brought out his blade once again. At that moment, the pesky silverfish were slowly slithering towards them and they had soon trapped the two intruders in a corner. The two warriors tried slashing at the tiny creatures, but did not manage to kill them fast enough.

"Well, any more great ideas?" Scarlett asked sarcastically.

"No, I don't. But I'm not going down without a fight," he replied as he continued to fight back the waves of silverfish. Unfortunately, more silverfish were popping out of stone bricks to aid their friends and Scarlett and Collin were soon getting tired of fighting.

"I don't think we can beat them with only two of us," Scarlett said as sweat rolled down her forehead.

Suddenly, a voice from somewhere nearby could be heard. "You won't have to." Before Collin and Scarlett could respond, two figures appeared from behind the swarm of silverfish. One of them charged forward with a golden sword and the other brought out a bow and nocked an arrow.

"Sam, Greg, you're here!" Collin shouted with joy.

Scarlett brought out her enchanted blaze rod and began shooting balls of fire at the annoying mobs. "And just in time, too."

Together, the four of them fought off the swarm of silverfish and before they knew it, they had won. Collin collapsed to the floor from exhaustion. "Where have you two been? We couldn't find you guys when we entered the nether portal."

Sam and Greg exchanged glances. "It's a long story, but we figured that you and Scarlett will eventually make your way to this stronghold," Sam responded.

Collin let out a sigh of relief and Scarlett's facial expression seemed to have relaxed. "Do you know the location of 'The End' portal?" she asked.

"We have been searching through this stronghold for a long time now; of course we know where 'The End' portal is!" Greg said proudly.

"Well then, why are you standing around here for? Show us the way," Scarlett said sternly, clearly annoyed that Greg and Sam had beaten them to the stronghold.

Greg chuckled and led the way to 'The End' portal, which turned out to be just around a few corners. Collin looked around the ancient room and immediately took out any spawners and mobs before they could become a real threat. "Well, who wants to go in first?" When no one responded, Collin took a step a step forward. "Wish me luck," he said softly as he leaped into 'The End' portal.